The suspect in Wednesday’s shooting at the Maine Mall has turned himself in to South Portland police.
Ahmed Basheer Awad, 20, of Westbrook. Photo courtesy South Portland police
Ahmed Basheer Awad, 20, of Westbrook, met with officers Thursday afternoon outside the Cumberland County Jail, where he was taken into custody “without incident” around 3:30 p.m., city spokesperson Shara Dee said.
Awad is charged with elevated aggravated assault, and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, both felony-level crimes, Dee said. He was also charged with carrying a concealed/threatening display of a weapon, a Class D misdemeanor.
He is accused of shooting a man in the leg inside a bathroom near the food court at the mall, police said.
The department said he is being held on a $100,000 cash bail pending an arraignment scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday.
Police have not found the firearm used in the shooting.
THE SHOOTING
According to South Portland police the first 911 calls were placed around 3:40 p.m. after people heard gunshots inside a bathroom near the food court.
Awad was then seen on surveillance video leaving through the food court exit and getting into a silver, four-door sedan around 3:45 p.m., about 15 minutes before South Portland police first alerted the community to the shooting.
Detective Lt. Christopher Todd, who was one of the first officers in the door, said at the Thursday morning news conference that two mall security officers ran toward the gunshots and applied a tourniquet to the victim’s leg, which likely saved his life.
The male victim, who has not been identified, is in his late 20s, police said. He was shot in his upper right leg and underwent surgery Wednesday night. He is expected to survive, South Portland Police Chief Chief Daniel Ahern said.
The victim told police he does not know Awad, and “is not telling us very much,” Ahern said. Police believe the shooting was an isolated incident.
Dee said police identified Awad as a suspect based on anonymous tips and other police calls after posting a photo of him captured on mall surveillance footage.
‘SLOW, METHODICAL SEARCH’
The shooting prompted store employees and shoppers to shelter in place for several hours while police conducted a “slow, methodical search” of the building until about 7:30 p.m. Ahern said staff followed mall policy to lock their stores and not leave until told to do so.
“It took a long time, a lot of effort and a lot of staff to secure that scene, to lock it down and to make it safe for everyone,” Ahern said.
South Portland police Chief Daniel Ahern speaks about the search for Ahmed Basheer Awad, 20, of Westbrook, following Wednesday’s shooting at the Maine Mall. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald
The photo of Awad released by police is a Cumberland County Jail booking photo from 2023, said Dee, the city spokesperson, but it is unclear what he was taken in for. South Portland police said they had only encountered him once when patrolling parking lots in the city.
Initially, South Portland thought there was an active shooter in the mall and sent all police units to the scene, Ahern said.
Several other agencies also responded to secure all 15 entrances to the mall. Dozens of law enforcement vehicles were scattered throughout the parking lot while officers in tactical gear and long guns stepped into the building.
When shots rang out, people could be seen on security camera footage fleeing the food court, the police chief said. The mall broadcast an evacuation message over the loudspeaker for people inside the mall. And employees received an alert through a mall-wide app, which alerted them to secure their stores.
It was the first shooting inside the mall in decades — the first that Deputy Chief Kevin Gerrish could remember in his 23 years of service with the city. In December, police investigated a fight outside the nearby Kobe Steakhouse. Police said at the time that the suspect and victim left the restaurant and were driving near the intersection of Gorham Road and Western Avenue when the suspect fired a gun in the direction of another car.
A police officer runs toward the food court entrance at the Maine Mall on Wednesday. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald
South Portland police have conducted active shooter drills at the mall, Todd said, but he wasn’t sure what training mall employees undergo.
“We will learn from these events as we always do and we will endeavor to train with mall partners there,” Ahern said.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Todd at 207-799-5511 Ext. 7448, or Detective Jeff Levesque at 207-799-5511 Ext. 7435. You can also leave an anonymous tip at 207-347-4100.
Staff Writer Daniel Kool contributed to this report.
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